CLIA Reports Strong Outlook for the Cruise Business

In case you hadn’t figured it out based on your booking totals so far, cruising continues to be one of the strongest segments of the travel industry. That was demonstrated with hard numbers on Feb. 9 when Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) released its annual State of the Cruise Industry Report.

Once again CLIA is projecting strong growth for the cruise industry in 2015, coming after major increases last year. A record 23 million passengers are expected to sail this year, up 4 percent from last year when 21.2 million cruised.

The cruise industry this year also is expected to have a major economic impact globally. In 2013 alone, the global economic output of cruising was more than $117 billion. The industry also supported nearly 900,000 jobs and contributed to $38 billion in wages.

“The state of the cruise industry is not only strong, but we've been growing relentlessly for 40 years,” said Adam Goldstein, CLIA chairman and president and chief operating officer for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the parent company for Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises, who was referring to the fact that CLIA will celebrate its 40th anniversary this fall. “CLIA has grown to become the unified global voice of cruising.”

CLIA now represents 62 cruise lines, 50,000 travel agents and 275 executive partners (ports, destinations and other entities) around the world. According to Goldstein, it also focuses on such issues as stronger waste policy, reduced air emissions and advanced wastewater treatment systems to make sure its ships are leading the way in sustainable tourism. CLIA also just relaunched its consumer website to promote what cruising does for the economy and the environment.

Goldstein also pointed out that, despite some recent incidents over the past two years, cruising remains among the safest modes of leisure transportation. Cruise ship capacity grew by 18 percent from 2009 to 2013, but the number of operational incidents declined by 13 percent.

Maria Miller, senior vice president of marketing for Norwegian Cruise Line and chair of CLIA's marketing committee, said CLIA has identified seven cruise industry trends for 2015 that are fueling the optimistic outlook for the business.

High Customer Satisfaction: First, travelers intend to continue to cruise and are highly satisfied with prior cruise experiences. Sixty-two percent are return cruisers and 69 percent ranked cruising as a better value than a land-based vacation.

Size Doesn’t Matter: Five years ago, the largest cruise ship in the world, Oasis of the Seas, was introduced with a 6,300-passenger capacity. With 55 ocean, river and specialty cruise ships scheduled to debut by 2020, the focus is less on size and more on unique design and amenities. Indeed, until just a few years ago, CLIA did not include river cruise lines as members, but there are now a number of such companies on its roster, including the newest member, CroisiEurope.

Specialty Cruises See Growth: CLIA’s specialty segments, which includes small ships and river cruise ships, continue to experience double-digit passenger growth. In fact, specialty cruises grew by 21 percent annually from 2009 to 2014.

Caribbean Cruises Rock: The Caribbean will have 26 percent of the global deployment capacity market share in 2015. The Mediterranean (20 percent) continues to grow as a destination, as well as other regions, including Asia (6 percent) and Australia (6 percent). In 2015, 52 ships will provide 1,065 Asian cruises with capacity for 2.17 million passengers.

New Destinations Grow: The cruise industry is seeing an increase in passengers looking for global experiences. To meet that demand, CLIA’s member cruise lines offer nearly 1,000 ports around the globe, including many areas that are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Travel Agents Still Rule: While the Internet and mobile devices are being used by consumers to make purchases, travel agents continue to be the most popular and best way to book a cruise with roughly 70 percent using an agent to plan and book cruise vacations. In its annual survey of the travel agency community, CLIA found that 61 percent of North American CLIA-certified travel agents reported an increase in 2015 travel bookings over this time last year.

Passengers Remain in Control: When it comes to cruise travel, consumers are in control more than ever before. The cruise industry is responding to their needs with major innovation, such as better Internet connectivity onboard ships, more focus on multigenerational group travel, themed cruises and “foodcations” that focus on culinary travel at sea.

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